• Health Policy and Management
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• v.9 no.3
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• pp.1-20
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• 1999

This study reviews the literature of influencing factor on hospital-employed physician's income, and it describes general distribution of hospital-employed physician's income, and analyzes influencing factor of hospital-employed physician's income. A total of 1.795 persons responded to the mail survey. through stratified sampling by 23 branches of medical society in Korean RBRVS study. The design of the study is cross sectional study. and the unit of analysis is a physician. To examine the change of average income per month. multiple regression was used to test the change according to physician's characteristics. demographic characteristics. scale of hospital. average intensity of ordinary work. and specialty. The major findings of this study are as follows; 1. As for physicians working in first referral hospital. the average income of neurosurgeon per month was the largest. being 1.34 times larger than that of the family physician, and that of the emergency physician was the smallest, being 0.78 times smaller than that of the family physician, but that of the ophthalmic and Orthopaedic physician was significantly larger than that of the family physician under the control of control variables. And average income per month was significantly larger for physicians who worked in Seoul metropolitan area than physicians who worked in rural area. 2. The year of physician's career, number of average out-patients per month significantly positively associated, but the number of hospital beds and average intensity of therapy significantly negatively associated with average income per month. 3. As for physicians working in second referral hospital. the average income of the psychiatric physician per month was the largest, being 1.33 times larger than that of the family physician, and that of the emergency physician was smallest, being 0.74 times smaller than that of the family physician., but no significant difference was seen under the control of control variables, and average income per month was significantly larger for physicians who worked in Seoul metropolitan area than physicians who worked in large municipal area. 4. The year of physician's career and number of hospital beds significantly positively associated, but average working hours per month significantly negatively associated with average income per month. In conclusion, the year of hospital-employed physician's career is the largest influencing factor on hospital-employed physicians. But the difference of average income per month according to working regions and to number of hospital beds existed in employed physicians under the control of control variables. So this study has implementation that we must consider the influence of working regions and the number of hospital beds on the income of hospital-employed physicians in making policy for hospital. Being a cross-sectional study, this study can not suggest causal explanations. In the future, experiment or cohort study is needed for causal explanations.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.3 s.62
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• pp.471-480
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• 1998

This study was undertaken in order to estimate the accuracy of disease code of the Korean National Medical Insurance Data and disease the characteristics related to the accuracy. To accomplish these objectives, 2,431 cases coded as notifiable acute communicable diseases (NACD) were randomly selected from 1994 National Medical Insurance data file and family medicine specialists reviewed the medical records to confirm the diagnostic accuracy and investigate the related factors. Major findings obtained from this study are as follows : 1. The accuracy rate of disease code of NACD in National Medical Insurance data was very low, 10.1% (95% C.I. : 8.8-11.4). 2. The reasons of inaccuracy in disease code were 1) claiming process related administrative error by physician and non-physician personnel in medical institutions (41.0%), 2) input error of claims data by key punchers of National Medical Insurer (31.3%) and 3) diagnostic error by physicians (21.7%). 3. Characteristics significantly related with lowering the accuracy of disease code were location and level of the medical institutions in multiple logistic regression analysis. Medical institutions in Seoul showed lower accuracy than those in Kyonngi, and so did general hospitals, hospitals and clinics than tertiary hospitals. Physician related characteristics significantly lowering disease code accuracy of insurance data were sex, age group and specialty. Male physicians showed significantly lower accuracy than female physicians; thirties and fortieg age group also showed significantly lower accuracy than twenties, and so did general physicians and other specialists than internal medicine/pediatric specialists. This study strongly suggests that a series of policies like 1) establishment of peer review organization of National Medical Insurance data, 2) prompt nation-wide expansion of computerized claiming network of National Medical Insurance and 3) establishment and distribution of objective diagnostic criteria to physicians are necessary to set up a national disease surveillance system utilizing National Medical Insurance claims data.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.26 no.4 s.44
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• pp.614-627
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• 1993

It is well known that a physician's personal characteristic affects his practice pattern. Furthermore, a physician's specialty has powerful influences on his practice pattern. However, despite the fact that specialization has received the most attention for its influence on physician's service behavior, few studies have been conducted on the variations of contents and volume of physician's services. This study has intended to identify factors influencing the practice variations according to various physician characteristics. There are some other evidences that medical care providers are different in using of health services and resources in Korea. Four physician characteristics were selected for the analysis, two demographical factors, age and sex, and two practice factors, place of practice and medical specialty. Also, three indicators of service amount (total amount of insurance claim bill, number of visits per case, number of prescriptions per case) were selected. From the pool of insurance claims for ambulatory care received by the Korean National Federation of Medical Insurance(NFMI), 84,898 cases were randomly sampled. In the meantime using physician database of NFMI, 613 general practitioners (GP), 107 regular family physicians (FP), 483 'grandfather' family physicians(GFP), and 1,157 specialist practitioners(SP) were randomly sampled. Their different practice contents were compared concerning the specialty, age groups, sex, and practice sites (urban-rural) Specialist physicians tend to provide more costly care than do generalists. General practitioners and family physicians usually make fewer following visits and prescriptions. Age is also the important factor in determining the amount of services, which is highest at the physician's age group of 40's. Female doctors and urban practitioners use much more resources than their counterparts respectively. Research findings suggest that physician's characteristics particularly the specialty can affect practice patterns and resource utilizations. Other characteristics such as age and sex are not controllable but physician's specialty is relatively easily controllable during the entire phases of policy implementation. This is all the more true in the individual's initial decision of his specialty. Specialization therefore should receive policymaker's attention for its potential influence on medical care utilization and health care expenditure.

• Journal of Korean Critical Care Nursing
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.49-60
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• 2012

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore health care workers awareness and performance of standard precautions. Methods: Participants were 296 health care workers including nurses, physicians, and medical technicians. Awareness and performance of standard precautions were measured with 4-point Likert scales. The data were analyzed with t-tests and one-way ANOVA by using SPSS 18.0. Results: The mean scores of awareness were 3.72 in nurses, 3.62 in physicians, and 3.47 in medical technicians. There was a significant difference of awareness by occupational classification (F=12.39, p<.001). The mean scores of performance of standard precautions were 3.45 in nurses, 3.19 in physicians, and 3.23 in medical technicians. There was a significant difference of performance by occupational classification (F=10.98, p<.001). In addition, the score of performance of standard precautions was significantly lower than that of awareness (t=11.89, p<.001). Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that awareness and performance of standard precautions were different by occupational classification. To improve performance of standard precautions in hospitals, it is necessary to provide a distinct infection control program by occupational classification.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.105-113
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• 2007

Background: Cancer genetics have gained public attention dramatically. Everyday physicians and nurses use the knowledge of cancer genetics in their practices. Despite the importance of the knowledge of the health care providers on cancer genetics, there is a paucity of literature investigating the levels of knowledge about cancer genetics among health care providers. Purpose: This study aimed to describe the Korean physicians' current knowledge level about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer (HBOC). Method: This nation-wide survey used a 15-item questionnaire which is modified from the Breast Cancer Genetic Counseling Knowledge Questionnaire originally developed by Erblich et al.(2005). One hundred and forty-four physicians participated in this survey from October 1, 2006 to March 31, 2007. Result: Physicians' knowledge level about hereditary breast cancer was 11.94 (S.D=2.46). Physicians with short-term careers (less than one year), the position of Intern, or who were involved in breast or ovarian cancer care demonstrated the highest knowledge about HBOC. Conclusion: Genetic courses in medical education seemed to contribute to the high level of physicians' genetic knowledge. Also, nursing discipline needs to incorporate genetics or genetic counseling courses into the formal educational curriculum in order to deliver up to date cancer care services which are sensitive to ever-changing cancer genetic information.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.159-172
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• 2005

Purpose: The Purpose of this study was to development a verbal abuse scale for operating room nurses in Korea. Method: To achieve the purpose of the study, a questionnaire was developed to interview 30 nurses and distributed to 761 nurses who working at 28 general hospital in Korea from september 7 to November 25, 2004. Item analysis and factor analysis were carried out to validate violence predicting scale. Cronbach's Alpha coefficient was used to test reliability of the scale. The data were analyzed by using SPSS/WIN 11.5 program. Result: As a result of the item analysis and factor analysis, 17 items were selected from the total of 30 items, and four factors were labeled as 'self esteem abuse by nurses(7 items)', 'self esteem abuse by physicians(6 items)', 'sexual abuse by physicians(2 items)', 'colleague abuse by physicians(2 items)'. Four factors were explained by 60.8% out of the total variance. The first factor explained 35.456%, second factor explained 12.401% and third factor explained 6.637%. And fourth factor explained 6.304%. Reliability of the factors were tested by Cronbach's Alpha coefficient and result was 0.885. Conclusion: The scale was identified to be a tool with a high degree of reliability and validity. Therefore, this scale can be effectively utilized for assessment of verbal abuse for operating room nurses by nurses and physicians in Korea.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.31 no.4 s.63
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• pp.770-785
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• 1998

This study describes the relation of physician's income and price of medical service and social welfare through microeconomic view, reviews the literature of influencing factor on physician's income, and it describes general distribution of physician's income, and analyzes influencing factor of physician's income. A total of 844 persons responded to the mail survey, through stratified sampling by 23 branches of medical society in Korean RBRVS study. The design of the study is cross sectional study, and the unit of analysis is a physician. To examine the change of average income per month, multiple regression was used to test the change according to physician's characteristics, demographic characteristics, scale of clinic, average intensity of ordinary work, and specialty. The major findings of this study are as follows; 1. As for self-employed physicians, the difference of average income per month among specialties was mcreased \4,850,000, but the difference was \6,020,000 under the control of control variables. 2. The number of average out-patients per month and number of nurses and nursing aides significantly positively associated, and average income per month was significantly higher for physicians who had sick-beds than physicians who had no sick-beds. In conclusion, the number of out-patient and number of nurses and nursing aides is the major influencing factor, and the difference of average income per month among specialties existed in self-employed physicians. So this study suggests basic hypothesis that the price of medical service and supply of physician by specialties are not pertinent. Being a cross-sectional study, this study can not suggest causal explanations. In the future, further study is needed for causal explanations.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.51 no.3
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• pp.154-162
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• 2018

Objectives: Early retirement occurs when one's job satisfaction suffers due to employment mismatch resulting from factors such as inadequate compensation. Medical doctors report high levels of job stress and burnout relative to other professionals. These levels are highest among emergency physicians (EPs), and despite general improvements in their working conditions, early retirement continues to become more common in this population. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors influencing EPs intention to retire early and to develop a probability equation for its prediction. Methods: A secondary analysis of data from the 2015 Korean Society of Emergency Physicians Survey was performed. The variables potentially influencing early retirement were organized into personal characteristics, extrinsic factors, and intrinsic factors. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify risk factors and to develop a probability equation; these findings were then arranged in a nomogram. Results: Of the 377 survey respondents included in the analysis, 48.0% intended to retire early. Risk factors for early retirement included level of satisfaction with the specialty and its outlook, slanderous reviews, emergency room safety, health status, workload intensity, age, and hospital type. Intrinsic factors (i.e., slanderous reviews and satisfaction with the specialty and its outlook) had a stronger influence on early retirement than did extrinsic factors. Conclusions: To promote career longevity among EPs, it is vital to improve emergency room safety and workload intensity, to enhance medical professionalism through a stronger vision of emergency medicine, and to strengthen the patient-doctor relationship.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.48 no.5
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• pp.239-248
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• 2015

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess the inter-rater reliability and intra-rater reliability of medical record review for the detection of hospital adverse events. Methods: We conducted two stages retrospective medical records review of a random sample of 96 patients from one acute-care general hospital. The first stage was an explicit patient record review by two nurses to detect the presence of 41 screening criteria (SC). The second stage was an implicit structured review by two physicians to identify the occurrence of adverse events from the positive cases on the SC. The inter-rater reliability of two nurses and that of two physicians were assessed. The intra-rater reliability was also evaluated by using test-retest method at approximately two weeks later. Results: In 84.2% of the patient medical records, the nurses agreed as to the necessity for the second stage review (kappa, 0.68; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.54 to 0.83). In 93.0% of the patient medical records screened by nurses, the physicians agreed about the absence or presence of adverse events (kappa, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.97). When assessing intra-rater reliability, the kappa indices of two nurses were 0.54 (95% CI, 0.31 to 0.77) and 0.67 (95% CI, 0.47 to 0.87), whereas those of two physicians were 0.87 (95% CI, 0.62 to 1.00) and 0.37 (95% CI, -0.16 to 0.89). Conclusions: In this study, the medical record review for detecting adverse events showed intermediate to good level of inter-rater and intra-rater reliability. Well organized training program for reviewers and clearly defining SC are required to get more reliable results in the hospital adverse event study.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.44 no.5
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• pp.390-399
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• 2017

Background This article aims to investigate current perceptions of beauty of the general public and physicians without a specialization in plastic surgery performing aesthetic procedures. Methods A cross-sectional and interviewing questionnaire was administered to 290 people in Seoul, South Korea in September 2015. The questionnaire addressed three issues: general attitudes about plastic surgery (Q1), perception of and preferences regarding Korean female celebrities' facial attractiveness (Q2), and the relative influence of each facial aesthetic subunit on overall facial attractiveness. The survey's results were gathered by a professional research agency and classified according to a respondent's gender, age, and job type ($95%{\pm}5.75%$ confidence interval). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS ver. 10.1, calculating one-way analysis of variance with post hoc analysis and Tukey's t-test. Results Among the respondents, 38.3% were in favor of aesthetic plastic surgery. The most common source of plastic surgery information was the internet (50.0%). The most powerful factor influencing hospital or clinic selection was the postoperative surgical results of acquaintances (74.9%). We created a composite face of an attractive Korean female, representing the current facial configuration considered appealing to the Koreans. Beauty perceptions differed to some degree based on gender and generational differences. We found that there were certain differences in beauty perceptions between general physicians who perform aesthetic procedures and the general public. Conclusions Our study results provide aesthetic plastic surgeons with detailed information about contemporary Korean people's attitudes toward and perceptions of plastic surgery and the specific characteristics of female Korean faces currently considered attractive, plus trends in these perceptions, which should inform plastic surgeons within their specialized fields.